After the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) dismissed a review petition filed by the State Government, the ST and SC Development Department has released an amount of Rs 5 lakh to be paid to one Sudam Raita of Gajapati district whose daughter Sunita had committed suicide in August 2014.
A nursing student, Sunita had taken the extreme step when the Gajapati district authorities did not release her annual stipend after repeated pleas. Even when the State Government did not respond after Sunita’s untimely death, human rights activist advocate Prabir Kumar Das had approached the OHRC seeking compensation to the victim’s family.
Das in his application had alleged that the 19-year-old tribal girl from Gajapati district was deprived of her annual stipend of Rs 54,000 for over 18 months, as a result of which she was expelled from a Bhubaneswar-based college where she was pursuing her BSc (Nursing) course. “When her prayers remained unanswered for several days, the poor tribal girl took the unfortunate step,” Das had said, seeking a damage of Rs 10 lakh to the girl’s family
Accordingly, the Brahmapur-based Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) was asked by the OHRC to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. On the basis of the RDC report, the OHRC in February this year had directed the Government to pay a damage of Rs 5 lakh to the father of the girl.